Published : Nov. 19, 2012 - 20:05
People leave the burial site of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull near Ho-Am Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Monday after paying respects at a memorial event for the 25th anniversary of his death. (Yonhap News)
YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province ― The late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull’s 25th commemoration ceremony was marred on Monday by family discord caused by an inheritance lawsuit.
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family members including heir apparent Lee Jay-yong, and about 100 Samsung senior executives paid their respects to the founder at around 11 a.m. at the family burial ground in Yongin.
Hong Ra-hee, chairman Lee’s wife and chief of Ho-Am Art Museum, and Lee’s two daughters Boo-jin and Seo-hyun also joined the commemoration ceremony which lasted an hour.
But CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun, the eldest grandson of the late founder Lee, did not participate in the ceremony in protest over Samsung’s alleged refusal to allow him to use the main gate to the museum, where the burial ground is located.
CJ Group was spun off from Samsung Group in 1994 after Lee Kun-hee took control of the conglomerate.
CJ Group said its chairman, family members and company executives organized their own memorial event at the CJ Human Resources Development Institute later in the day.
“We continuously requested that Samsung let us use the main gate to enter the founder’s burial site, but it was not accepted,” said CJ Group spokesman Lee Young-pyo. “It’s not an appropriate way to treat the eldest son of Lee’s family.” CJ’s Lee Jay-hyun is the son of Lee Maeng-hee, who is the eldest son of the Samsung founder.
Lee In-hee, the eldest daughter in Samsung founder Lee’s family and chair of Hansol Group, attended a separate ceremony in the museum at around 3 p.m.
This is the first time that Lee Kun-hee and his siblings have paid their respects separately.
Samsung and CJ are currently fighting over inheritance rights with the results of the legal battle expected to be released later next month.
With the ongoing legal battle staged between eldest son Lee Maeng-hee and Lee Kun-hee, CJ claimed last week that Samsung is seeking to hamper ordinary yearly visits arranged to pay respects by siblings and other relatives.
By Cho Ji-hyun (
sharon@heraldcorp.com)